The urge to follow their passion inspires such people to swing their careers, no matter what their professional qualifications may be.BENGALURU: If you ask Parag Shah what he does at Urban Ladder, he will tell you he looks after the sourcing, design, sales, and category management of the modular kitchens and wardrobes section. But if you ask him about his previous stints, he will tell you that his work at a private equity firm, at a shipbuilding company, and heading his own restaurant, 'The Little Door' in Pune, has been vastly different from what he does now.

Parag, who joined the furniture etailer earlier this year, is one of the many professionals in the 30-35 years age bracket who are choosing to give up comfortable jobs, to try something new, and in the process bring about a mid-life career shift. The urge to follow their passion inspires such people to swing their careers in a completely different direction, no matter what their professional qualifications may be.

"Very often, consistently high achievers want to reinvent their careers before the age of 40, and they're comfortable taking the risk of letting it all go and starting afresh. It's easier to prove something to the world when you have savings for a rainy day," said Jappreet Sethi, HR consulting strategist.

"Work experience isn't a barrier, because such professionals come with a high degree of problem-solving and analytical skills."

It's no surprise that startups seem to be the destination of choice for such professionals, who want to give their careers a fresh boost before they hit 40.

Realty portal Housing.com has welcomed quite a few mid-life career changers into its fold. An employee from Bain & Company, previously in finance and strategy, joined as product lead. It has also hired a stockbroker who now works in the strategy team, as well as a celebrity manager who joined the culture vertical. "More and more people are making the decision to do what they want to do, and how they want to do it," said Ajay Nair, chief administration officer. "This means looking outside the comfort zone."

Erstwhile investment banker Varsha Udayabhanu felt the urge to be in a more fastpaced industry with immediate returns. After stints at Macquarie Capital Advisers and UBS Investment Bank, she realised she wanted to be in a field that allowed her a more hands-on approach in operations. After a few months at Myntra, where she worked as business manager, Udayabhanu joined InMobi. Today, she heads the corporate development vertical. "The world of mobile technology is significantly different from anything I've done before, and I thrive on the independence to do my own thing," she said.

The medical fraternity too sees exits from professionals who are looking to have a go in unfamiliar territory. Aseem Mahajan is a case in point. Mahajan had an MBBS degree from JIPMER, Puducherry, and extensive knowledge on preventive medicine and cervical cancer, but travel excited him the most. He gave up his cushy job at pharmaceutical company Abbott to join TravelTriangle as destination strategist. "A few years ago, I had backpacked across Europe on an exchange programme, and that awoke my love for travel. When I heard about the opening at Travel-Triangle, it sounded like a dream job because it combined travel with analytics."

Very often, people become jaded in their existing careers, and want to break out of them to do something challenging. They choose to don completely different hats, and usually work experience isn't a hindrance, since they demonstrate a go-getter attitude and fit well into a startup culture, said Pratika Khandelwal, HR head at Edureka. The edutech startup has recently hired two such mid-life career changers. Prakash Agarwal, who now heads content and partnership at Edureka, comes from a trading and manufacturing background, while Sumit Agarwal, who takes care of instructor acquisition and management, previously worked in business process re-engineering.